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Playing the Cynical Expectations Game

Elections aren’t about votes, but expectations, the cynics say. The Wall Street Journal’s Amy Chozick (ostensibly writing a news story, not an opinion column) apparently is a cynic. Sure, Obama’s been leading the South Carolina polls for a month or so, and that “may seem like good news” for him, but,

[W]ith expectations set so high, political pundits say the Illinois senator faces a dilemma: He will have to win by a double-digit margin in order for voters nationwide to perceive South Carolina as a real victory. This struggle to meet expectations has been heightened by the Clinton campaign.

So, unidentified “pundits” and his main opposition agree that the bar for Obama is an double-digit electoral video.